1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which can execute a plurality of functions and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Programs of an apparatus, typified by an apparatus such as a digital multifunction peripheral, are stored on a hard disk apparatus in binary format, loaded into RAM when being executed, and executed under the control of the CPU. In particular, these programs comprise a plurality of functions, and the capacity of total program data tends to increase as the digital multifunction peripheral increases in performance and function. In a case that the size of program data increases in this manner, the time required to read out the program from the hard disk apparatus and store it in RAM becomes longer, leading to a longer wait until it is possible for the user to begin use. Even if a user wishes to use only a part of the digital multifunction peripheral, the user must wait until programs for all functions are loaded into RAM. In order to solve this type of problem, it is possible, for example, to prepare a program of small size for any particular function, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-213469. This document discloses a method in which a program is loaded exclusively for each function of the digital multifunction peripheral to be executed. By loading a program restricted to a specific function, the time required to start up the digital multifunction peripheral can be shortened.
However, since it is conventional for a digital multifunction peripheral to make it possible for all functions to be used, the art of exclusively loading a program each time a function is used is not a solution to the above problem. This is because programs that have been set not to be started up will not be started up even if the user requests the function executed by the program. In other words, if the user uses the above conventional art to make it possible to use only a particular function (for example, the copy function), functions other than copying cannot be used under that condition.
A means to solve the above problem involves the “division of program” and the “program storage medium” configurations. These configurations allow preferred functions to be made quickly usable by storing the corresponding programs in a flash memory, while the remaining programs are stored on the hard disk. When the digital multifunction peripheral is started up, programs corresponding to the preferred function is rapidly loaded into a memory from flash memory and made executable, and subsequently programs for executing the remaining functions are successively loaded into the memory from the hard disk, making each function effective. However, if the programs to be stored in a flash memory are fixed, the functions to be made preferentially usable after starting up the digital multifunction peripheral will always be the same, and there may be cases in which functions that differ from the functions that the user desires are preferentially started up.